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Commentary

IN THE TIME OF TRUMP: HOW TO PREPARE TO STUDY ABROAD IN THE NEW AGE

A week ago, I found myself driving north down highway 400 to an annual counselling spring retreat, listening to Springsteen sing about his favourite topics: small towns and big dreams. In the passenger seat lay the pages of a presentation I was supposed to deliver at the conference, entitled ‘In the Time of Trump: How to Prepare to Study Abroad in A New Age”; to be honest though, it was the last thing on my mind.

THE FUTURE OF GUIDANCE COUNSELING

Students think their plan for success is a custom-designed program. They are searching for people to motivate, inspire and drive their passions.  That sounds an awful lot like the job of a “Counselor,” doesn’t it? One might think so, but today, counselors have created silos and systems, which insulate them from individualized planning.  They have removed the flexibility from creating an atmosphere conducive to student achievement and standardized their role in any possible achievements. 



WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE SPEECH?

Recently, the University of California-Berkeley, made news by disallowing conservative political commentator, Ann Coulter, from speaking on their campus at the invitation of a conservative group of students.  On some campuses, this may not be news…the other campuses are not the home of the “Free Speech” movement.



SYRIAN REFUGEES: THE START OF A LOST GENERATION

Sahar lives in a refugee camp in the Saadnayel informal settlement in Lebanon. Her parents recently fled the war in Syria, and despite continuous fighting in the camp and not enough to eat, she goes to school every day – it makes her happy and she gets to make new friends. Sahar believes that education will open the doors for a bright future for her, and this gives rise to a  critical question: are we as a community doing to deliver on our promises of universal human rights and citizenship rights?



Research

IMPLEMENTING PROFESSIONAL LEANING COMMUNITIES IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

This article discusses the professional learning communities (PLCs) at an urban school in the northeastern United States that included middle and high school teachers and university researchers from a university in the northeast region. The objective of the study was to engage teachers in the PLCs of a practice model to increase student achievement.

PREPARING FOR HIGH RISK LOW FREQUENCY INCIDENTS ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

Active Shooter Incidents (ASI) are a re-occurring and all-too-familiar trend in the United States. The role of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) administrators is vital to the overarching preparation of policies and procedures for an effective response to ASIs. IHL administrators’ support of educational law enforcement is marginal, partly due to political power structures within the universities. Due to the increasing awareness of the consequences of an ASI, it is becoming more apparent that the IHLs must be better coordinated to prepare for High Risk Low Frequency Incidents.



EFFECT OF YOGA ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN RELATION TO STRESS

We at TIGES are keen in finding the correlation between academic performance and stress level which is taking place in college campuses. As educators we understand that students deal with pressure and they find resort to other ways to blow off steam. Yoga is increasing amongst college campuses and we want to know more on the studies between Yoga and Academic performance.



USE OF PADLET FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS

In today’s polarizing political climate, it is critical that educators allow and encourage multinational perspectives in classrooms and assignments, including those taught online (Sargent, Gautreau & Stang, 2014). This can be challenging if the instructional designer does not reflect on his or her own perspectives on teaching and learning in order to understand how that is reflected in their course designs, and which may unknowingly exclude other perspectives. This premise is expanded by Billilngs and Kowalski’s (2008) interpretation “multicontextuality” by Giddons (2008) which “refers to the ways learners from various cultures interpret and communicate information. 

Student Musings

SINGING AND RE-SIGNIFYING: WOMEN AND MUSICAL ACTIVISM

Engendering resistance finds a particularly useful tool in music. The resignification of accessible and familiar rhythms firmly woven into collective memory allows socio-political resistance to find a firmer foothold in lived experiences. The power of music in contexts of mass mobilisation is immanent- a result of it being a “simple oral medium” (Roy, 77). Consequently, the ability to access and transmit impulses of resistance is more readily available.



MOVIE REVIEW: COLUMBIA REVOLT

The Columbian revolt of 1968 was a demonstration of the rise in political activism on college campuses. It marks a stark transition in education; a change from a passive to an active learning experience. The protest is a reflection of the 60’s culture and ideologies. The film, Columbia Revolt, attempts to capture the struggle and turmoil  of the students, the cops and those involved or affected by the protest.



ON A HORSEBACK

As you hold those reins under three fingers, place your left foot in the stirrup and swing your right leg over the quarters of the horse, there is instantly a connection between the two of you, almost as if those leather reins can transmit nerve impulses from your brain to his and back. Both of you now are rely on each other. Neither of you control the other, both of you cooperate with one another. Subsequently, you lose your individualism: The two of you are now one.



MAKING EDUCATION MEANINGFUL

California, 2006, the TED Conference, an agglomeration of ideas, and a scintillating light that pierces through the lugubrious darkness of ignorance. It is here, that Robert Quillen would say, “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge, argument of obtuseness.” It is also here, that Sir Ken Robinson narrated a humorous anecdote which prompted me to don the chimerical thinking cap.